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13 seems to be the better value

mozartwon

mozartwon

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 1, 2010
92
25
VIENNA Va.
I just got back from the Tyson's Corner Va. Flagship store. I went in very interested in the smaller version and came out convinced the 13 in., for me, is a better choice. The 11 in. is just not that much smaller and lighter. Plus,
you get the higher specs. What do you think?
 
I think it all depends on your needs.

IMHO, you don't get a MBA 11 or 13 due to value. The MB13 or MBP13 are better value wise for what you get based upon funds spent. You get an MBA because you have a need for a lightweight laptop.
 
It depends, I guess. On the one hand you could argue that the best value thing to buy would be something by Acer or Samsung - but then that's not what you want really is it?

I reckon the 11.6" is a great form factor.
 
I am having a hard time choosing. I am tempted to get a iMac 2011 and the stock Macbook Air 11 or getting the Macbook Air 13 fully loaded with every custom upgrade as my main machine and skip the iMac 2011.
 
mozartwon said:
I just got back from the Tyson's Corner Va. Flagship store. I went in very interested in the smaller version and came out convinced the 13 in., for me, is a better choice. The 11 in. is just not that much smaller and lighter. Plus,
you get the higher specs. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Good point. I have been leaning toward the 11 inch MBA over the 13 inch model but now that you mention it the difference in size and weight isn't that great. The 11 inch MBA is the same thickness and is only .1.38 inch narrower, 1 inch shallower, and .6 of a pound lighter than the 13 inch model. Also the 13 inch model is available with a faster processor, twice the amount of flash storage, and better screen resolution than the 11 inch. The down side to this comparison is that a loaded 13 inch costs $400 more than a loaded 11 inch.
 
i think $1299 13" MBA is the best bang for buck ... if you get some kinda of discount or get in the refurbished section, that machine is awesome...

i do not know why they screwed up the iSight camera in MBA :eek::confused: :eek:
 
gwsat said:
Good point. I have been leaning toward the 11 inch MBA over the 13 inch model but now that you mention it the difference in size and weight isn't that great. The 11 inch MBA is the same thickness and is only .1.38 inch narrower, 1 inch shallower, and .6 of a pound lighter than the 13 inch model. Also the 13 inch model is available with a faster processor, twice the amount of flash storage, and better screen resolution than the 11 inch. The down side to this comparison is that a loaded 13 inch costs $400 more than a loaded 11 inch.
Click to expand...

I ended up ordering the maxed out 11.6" for my wife. The first thing I'll do when it arrives is to put Win 7 on it through VMware Fusion. We'll see what that thing can do....
 
sushi said:
I think it all depends on your needs.

IMHO, you don't get a MBA 11 or 13 due to value. The MB13 or MBP13 are better value wise for what you get based upon funds spent. You get an MBA because you have a need for a lightweight laptop.
Click to expand...

Not sure I entirely agree there. I think a lot of people (like myself) decided they wanted the MBA, but the immediate objective past that was "how do I get the best version possible within the reasonable price range". This led many to buy the 13" w/ the 4 gig upgrade. I don't see the point of the 11.6 inch to be honest. The 13" weight increase is nearly unnoticable, and you're going to take the same precautions in regards to how it's packed and likely would be carrying it in the same bag you'd be carrying the 11" in... so honestly, why get the 11"? With the 13" you get nearly 2" more screen, roughly 25% more CPU, 2 more hours of battery, and double the flash storage for $300... in the world of Apple, that's a whole lotta' bang for your buck.

I've yet to hear a real world example of how the 11" is better suited for anything ;)
 
Jaro65 said:
I ended up ordering the maxed out 11.6" for my wife. The first thing I'll do when it arrives is to put Win 7 on it through VMware Fusion. We'll see what that thing can do....
Click to expand...
That's exactly how I plan to use either the 11 inch or 13 inch MBA, too. Please report how Windows 7 runs on your wife's 11 inch MBA in Fusion's Unity mode in conjunction with OS X apps. That information would really help me make my decision.
 
The 11" doesn't make much sense to me. The 1.6GHz 11" is the same price as the 1.86GHz 13" model. Getting the extra screen resolution, internal SD card reader (great for expanded storage), faster processor, longer battery life, and other small improvements seems like a no brainer to me.

I think the best bang-for-the-buck MBA is the $1400 13" with 4GB ram. Thats what I'm going to be saving for.
 
Both of these are excellent machines. You simply cannot go wrong with either. Nor can you go based on what others preferences are. The very best way to determine which is best for you is to think about what you are going to use it for. What your needs are as opposed to your gut feeling based on attraction to "the look".

I've chosen the 13".

For me screen size is of great importance, because even though this is my air travel laptop, (companion to my 15" MBP) I will still be spending a lot of time on it. In my case there's no substitute for reducing the amount of scrolling, and the ability to work with multiple windows open.

Your needs are probably quite different, so take your time, perhaps you may want to write a list of pros and cons for each size. At the end of the day, choosing what's right for you, will make a big difference.
 
I choose the 13" over the 11" for the screen, the 11" was just to small to be usable for me. As far as the rest of the spec's the difference in proc and bus speed where hardly noticeable to me.
 
Better values go out the window on novelty things! Yes the 11" is more of a novelty than the 13" I don't care what people say. 90% of the people are buying it for the style and not the weight. The other 10% are buying it because its "New".
 
rkahl said:
Better values go out the window on novelty things! Yes the 11" is more of a novelty than the 13" I don't care what people say. 90% of the people are buying it for the style and not the weight. The other 10% are buying it because its "New".
Click to expand...
This is total hogwash.

Sheer speculation and one sided criticism.

11" displays have been incorporated in laptops long before this, thus there is nothing "novelty" about it.

This is a very useful, well engineered laptop.
 
rkahl said:
Better values go out the window on novelty things! Yes the 11" is more of a novelty than the 13" I don't care what people say. 90% of the people are buying it for the style and not the weight. The other 10% are buying it because its "New".
Click to expand...

You are obviously quite new to the Apple world, or you have forgotten about the popularity of the 12" Powerbook... :rolleyes:

Secondly, the 11.6" MBA has a greater resolution than say, a 13" Macbook Pro, which is fine for productivity, isn't it? Hmmm
 
rkahl said:
Better values go out the window on novelty things! Yes the 11" is more of a novelty than the 13" I don't care what people say. 90% of the people are buying it for the style and not the weight. The other 10% are buying it because its "New".
Click to expand...
nicoritschel said:
You are obviously quite new to the Apple world, or you have forgotten about the popularity of the 12" Powerbook... :rolleyes:

Secondly, the 11.6" MBA has a greater resolution than say, a 13" Macbook Pro, which is fine for productivity, isn't it? Hmmm
Click to expand...
I agree that the MBA is something of a niche product but the claim that "90% of the people are buying it for the style and not the weight [and] the other 10% are buying it because its 'New'" is balderdash. More of a case for this curious proposition can be made for the old MBA because it was ridiculously overpriced for what it was. But the new MBA not only is far more capable than the old one, it starts at $999. In the Mac world that is low end.
 
I returned my 11.6:( for a 13.3". I tried to go with the 11.6 but the limited screen size was just too much. After several hours playing in the Apple Store I left with a 13". Some how I'm not too sad though:)
 
It all depends on what you value more. Performance or portability? I already have a custom gaming PC at home so I don't really need too much performance (just enough for web, word processing and light gaming) so the the 11" Air provides much better value for me.

Also for me the only thing that the 13.3" has over the 11.6" is the better CPU. However, that's really not a big deal. Web and word processing can be easily done on any modern CPU nowadays. Therefore, the extra $300 that the 13.3" model costs over the 11.6" model is not worth it for me (64GB of space is more than enough for me).
 
teerexx52 said:
I returned my 11.6:( for a 13.3". I tried to go with the 11.6 but the limited screen size was just too much. After several hours playing in the Apple Store I left with a 13". Some how I'm not too sad though:)
Click to expand...

Restocking fee?
 
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